Far Away
by sweetiex3
Summary: As you already know, Bradin and his siblings leave Kansas after the death of their parents. This would mean he'd have to leave his best friend Kristen too. What happens when they bump into each other ten years later? Please R&R!
1. Goodbye

**Disclaimer – **I don't own anything except for characters I made up.

This time, This place  
Misused, Mistakes  
Too long, Too late  
Who was I to make you wait  
Just one chance  
Just one breath  
Just in case there's just one left  
'Cause you know,  
you know, you know

That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I miss you  
Been far away for far too long  
I keep dreaming you'll be with me  
and you'll never go  
Stop breathing if  
I don't see you anymore

On my knees, I'll ask  
Last chance for one last dance  
'Cause with you, I'd withstand  
All of hell to hold your hand  
I'd give it all  
I'd give for us  
Give anything but I won't give up  
'Cause you know,  
you know, you know

So far away  
Been far away for far too long  
So far away  
Been far away for far too long  
But you know, you know, you know

I wanted  
I wanted you to stay  
'Cause I needed  
I need to hear you say  
That I love you  
I have loved you all along  
And I forgive you  
For being away for far too long  
So keep breathing  
'Cause I'm not leaving you anymore  
Believe it  
Hold on to me and, never let me go

Keep breathing  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Hold on to me and, never let me go  
Hold on to me and, never let me go

"_Far Away" Nickelback_

It was a typical day at Kansas City Elementary school. Everyone seemed to have a great number of friends in elementary, the kids were always sohappy and carefree. Nothing could go wrong. Bradin, obviously, had a lot of friends at the time. But one of them, the one who actually cared and listened to him, the one who he'd always pick outof a crowd of a million, was his best friend Kristen.

The two were playing on the swings when Bradin's mother came and picked him up from school.

"Bye Kristen!" Bradin said to her in his squeaky little seven-year-old voice. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

"See ya Bradin!" She replied.

His mother drove back to their homey Kansas home. Little Bradin burst through the door with his brightly colored backpack on his back, and his plastic, cartoon-themed lunch box in his hand. His father greeted him, holding baby Derrick in his arms. Nikki also ran from her model play-do set on the dinner table and went to give her older brother a hug.

Bradin's family seemed to be your average perfect family. Unfortunately, all of that had to change now.

The doorbell rang; and Bradin's mother went to go see who it was.

"Well, hi Diane." His mother looked surprised that their neighbor would ring their doorbell. Their neighbors weren't really the "socializing"type of people.

"There's a water leakage, down by the supermarket." Their neighbor said in an anxious voice. "And the lake nearby is starting to overflow. If it starts raining, we mightbe havinga full-size flood heading our way."

Bradin's mother looked up into the foggy sky. By the looks of it, there was a high percentage of rain that day. "Ok, we'll come down as soon as we can to help out." His mother told her. She turned around informed her husband. With a worried look on his face, he turned and looked at his children.

"Bradin, Nikki, me and mommy have to go help out downtown for just a little bit. I want you both to be on your best behavior for the nanny." He kissed both of their heads and Derrick's and handed his children over to the babysitter.

"Bye! We'll be back soon!" Their mother said.

Sadly, they wouldn't see them again soon. That would be the last Goodbye ever said.

_Two hours later..._

I was getting late and the babysitter started getting worried. Derrick was wailing from his crib and Bradin was chasing his little sister around.

As bad thoughts started to fill the poor babysitter's mind, the phone suddenly rang.

"Hello?" She said into the receiver. "WHAT! Oh my goodness, you can't be serious! No this can't be happening! I can't break this kind of news to the children! They'd be devastated. Are you sure? Ok thank you.". The nanny put down the phone slowlyand a tear slowly started rolling down her cheek

Bradin stopped chasing his sister around and looked up at his babysitter.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm so sorry." She cried. She was really close to the Westerly's, and to hear this sort of news made her heart break.

"They're gone." She trembled with words. "Your parents. I'm so sorry."

"What?" Bradin's playful smile slowly disappeared. "You're…you're just kidding right! This is a joke!" He laughed uneasily. "Stop it! This is just a joke! None of this is real! Right? Right nanny!"

"It's no joke honey. I just got a call from the hospital. They're gone." She whimpered.

Bradin couldn't believe what he heard. He crashed down to the ground and cried his eyeballs out, making Nikki and Derrick cry also.

_The next day…_

Bradin's grandparents came the next day to pick up their grandchildren. They had to decide who would take care of them, since they were aging unwillingly. They decided to switch them over to their daughter, Ava, currently living in California. It would've just broken their hearts to have their grandchildren living with complete strangers of foster parents.

"Grandpa?" Bradin looked up at his grandfather as he was driving the children to the airport. "Can we make one last stop? I want to say goodbye to someone."

His grandfather agreed. Soon they were right in front of the house that Bradin would never return to. Never again, would he come back to play hide and go seek, never would he come back to have sleepovers, and never again would he come back to see his best friend Kristen.

Tiny little Bradin jumped out from his grandfather's Volkswagen and walked up to the front door, planning on how he would break the upsetting news to his best friend.

He rung the doorbell and soon, little seven-year-old Kristen appeared at the doorway.

"Hi Bradin!" She said in her usual perky way. "Want to come in and play?"

"I can't...I'm sorry but I'm m-m-moving." He said glumly. "For a very very very long time."

"What! No! You can't move! I'll miss you too much!" She said shockingly. "I won't have anyone to play tag or hide-and-seek with!"

"My parents died yesterday, in a flood." He said, tears started forming at the memory of it. "And my grandparents said I have to move in with my aunt. All I know is that she lives very far away, in this place called California."

Kristen's eyes went watery. "I'm really sorry about your parents." She said in her squeaky, but sympathetic voice. "You promise you'll come back?" She asked.

"When I grow up I'll promise to come back!" He said, a small smile forming.

"You have to pinky promise!" She said, holding out her pinky.

Bradin linked his to hers gratefully. "Promise!" He said.

The kids waved bye to eachother for the last time; ina long time.

**A/N: **How is it so far? Pleaser review! The next chapter is gonna take place ten years later when both Bradin and Kristen are 17. Again, review!


	2. When We Collide

_10 years later…_

"Bradin, wake up!" a familiar voice called.

Disturbed, Bradin groaned and sat up from his bed. He rubbed his eyes and squinted them onto the person, who, without a doubt, woke him up from his peaceful slumber.

"Hey Brae," Jay said, leaning against Bradin's bedroom door, with arms crossed across his chest. "I need you to work double shifts today at the surf shop. I got a date with Erika today. Could you do that?"

Great. Now he had to spend his summer day working double shifts while Jay and Erika would go out and have their little "play date". But he couldn't blame Jay. He was a prettyneat guy.

"What fun." Bradin replied sarcastically. He grabbed the pillow from behind him and threw it at Jay.

Jay blocked it with his hands and threw it back at Bradin. "Thanks Brae. I owe you." He said gleefully.

After Jay left, Bradin groaned again, while getting out from under the covers. His shift would begin soon so he decided to get ready. Bradin walked to the mirror and took a look at himself. He thought he looked pretty decent, except for his unruly, ruffled bed hair. But he decided to keep it that way, like he did every day. Girls seemed to like it more that way anyway.

He started heading out of the house, slipping on his flip flops and waving goodbye to Ava and the gang. As he was making his way to the shop, he realized, this summer wasn't going as good as the previous ones. He had just broken up with Callie; the one he actually thought would be "The One". Unfortunately, she wasn't. She started getting paranoid at him for every little thing that he did, and she started getting too dependent on him. He just didn't like it so he had to break the news to her sooner or later.

He was girlfriend-less for two months now. How could that possibly be? Especially a guy with his stature and stunning good looks. Even Nikki had a boyfriend now. Well, almost. Ever since she started hanging out with Cameron, Bradin knew there was chemistry between them. Even Derrick was starting "crushing on girls" stage.

Bradin sighed once he got to the store. He reached into his baggy shorts and pulled out his keys. He slipped it into the lock and turned it, opening the door. It was quiet inside, but there was a lot of work to be done. There were a lot of boxes of newly ordered surfboards so be shelved, waiting for him in the corner. He thought he'd start with that first.

As he leaned down to reach for the first surfboard, he felt a slight tap on the shoulder.

"Um, excuse me?" The voice said.

Oh great, the first customer of the day. And so it starts.

"Hey sorry about that." He whirled around to face the customer. He stared at a teenage girl, probably around his age. She was really cute; he'd never seen her anywhere around here before, must be new.

"Can I help you?" He asked her, in a slightly flirtatious way.

"Yeah, could I rent a surfboard please?" She asked.

"Sure, I just need you to fill out this form before you do." Bradin replied reaching for the clipboard set on the counter. He handed her the clipboard and she started jotting down the information needed.

Bradin couldn't help but look at the girl the whole time she was writing down information. There was something so familiar about her, but he just couldn't put his finger on it. He just knew he'd seen her somewhere before.

"Here you go." The girl smiled as she handed back the clipboard.

Bradin looked at the clipboard. He almost dropped it when he saw what the name was, written at the top. Memories just started flooding into his brain like a lightning strike.

"KRISTEN?" He exclaimed, looking at her in shock.

"Um, yeah…heh heh, that's me." She said, a little confused on why he'd just go and yell out her name like that.

"ITS ME! BRADIN!" Bradin yelped.

Kristen's confused eyes just started turning into eyes you'd expect to see from the main character in a drama. Her hands slowly came to her mouth as she looked at the person standing right there in front of her.

"Oh. My. God. BRADIN!" She said as she threw her arms around his neck, giving him a gigantic hug. "I thought I'd never see you again!" "_He definitely went through puberty, 'cause he got HOT" _She thought to herself.

Bradin hugged her back, tightly. "What are you doing here!" He said, pulling away so that he could take a second look at his friend.

"My parents let me and some friends come here for vacation for a week!" She said.

Bradin smiled. "That's cool. You want me to show you and your friends around town later?"

"That'd be great." She smiled back. "So, how about that surfboard?"

Bradin chuckled. "You surfing now?"

"Yeah! Well, sorta. I'm taking lessons." She answered. "It IS pretty hard to find places to surf back in Kansas." She giggled.

"Kansas…" Bradin remembered. "I remember that place."

Kristen's smile slowly faded away as she remembered the tragic moment that happened almost near her home.

"So, is this a part time job?" She asked, deciding to change the subject as she looked around the store.

"Yeah, but today I gotta work double shift." Bradin answered, still looking for a pretty good surfboard for Kristen. He couldn't help but glance back at her every few seconds.

"Here's a good one." He said, pulling down a surfboard from the shelf. He handed it to Kristen.

"I could show you how to surf sometime if you wanted." He asked.

"That'd be great!" Kristen replied. "Hey, wanna hang out later today? After your shift or something? Then maybe we could start lessons together tomorrow." She asked eagerly. _"Please say yes, please say yes!" _She thought to herself.

"_Yes! She asked me out on a date!"_ Bradin thought to himself. _"Well, not really but sorta. It could build up from there! Wait, what am I doing? I better answer her before she starts getting weird thoughts about me."_

"_God damnit say yes already!" _Kristen thought to herself, still eagerly smiling at Bradin on the outside.

"Yeah! Sure, I'd love to." He said, again in a slightly flirtatious tone, trying to keep his cool.

"Ok, well I'll see you later then!" Kristen said, also trying to look good in front of him.

"Alright later." Bradin said. This just made his pain-stricken day into a full out … um … not pain stricken day!

**A/N: **Please review! I just wanna know how I'm doing! Criticism is allowed, I need all the help I could get to improve my stories! The more reviews, the faster I update. Thanks!


	3. The Stupid Looking Dinosaur

Bradin came back to the usual chaos that ruled the Ava Gregory household. Ava would be trying her hardest to be a good mother-figure for the kids, while discussing design ideas with Susannah. Johnny would be barbecuing in the backyard, Jay would be either be making out with Erika or ordering more supplies for his shop. Nikki would always panic on how to act or dress to impress Cameron, when she firmly insists that they are just friends. Derrick would be booming the speakers on his videogame system as he was trying to win, pushing the buttons on the hand-held controller ever so hard. It was a surprise that he hadn't already broken it yet.

Bradin was already used to the normal turmoil that would greet him as he came home from a long day. Especially now since his mind was completely occupied from the fact that he saw Kristen, his long lost best friend. He was so eager he'd meet up with her today. Bradin hadn't felt that kind of personality from someone in a long time. He missed it. He wanted to know what was up with her, how his old Kansas friends were doing, the "411" on things. The bad part was, she reminded him of his time there; when his parents were alive.

"Bradin! Come down for lunch!" Ava called. "Johnny grilled some hot dogs!"

Bradin sighed, slipped his hands into his pockets and made his way to the backyard patio. He took a plate and plopped a hot dog sausage on it along with a hotdog bun. He took a seat across from Derrick.

Bradin remembered when his dad used to make hotdogs. He would grill it just right and add some chili in the center. He couldn't help but think about Kristen as well. She'd come over every weekend and eat hotdogs with him. After, they'd watch their favorite PBS kids show that afternoon and giggle at the most un-funniest parts. She'd be the only one who'd understand him and his unusual sense of humor. Bradin always thought of her as a friend, but now that she'd come to visit, he thought they could be more than friends. Maybe start a relationship. He'd been searching for someone with her personality and really good looks for a long time.

"Aunt Ava, why is Bradin smiling like that?" Derrick asked with his mouth full of hot dog.

"And why's he so quiet all of a sudden?" Nikki asked, giving her brother a strange look.

"Girls." Jay purposed. "He's thinkin' about girls again."

"No I'm not." Bradin lied. He got up. "I'm gonna go out for a little bit aunt Ava."

"Alright, be back before dinner." She said to him. "And no more fooling around, got it?"

Bradin sighed with a hint of annoyance. He hated when his aunt acted all "parental" around him.

It was almost time for him to meet Kristen by the shop. He decided to fix up his hair a little and throw on his swimming trunks and a white shirt that hugged his muscular body tightly. He grabbed his surfboard and started heading out.

As he walked out of his room, something caught the corner of his eye. He looked at his dresser. Behind all the surf catalogs, he found what looked like a leg sticking out. He pushed all his junk to the side and picked up what he saw. It turned out to be a purple spotted green dinosaur from his past. He thought it was really stupid looking, but he decided to take it with him, for good luck purposes.

Bradin waited patiently for Kristen, leaning his back to the store wall.

"Hey Brae!" A shout took him by surprise as he whirled around to once again meet face-to-face with his friend.

"I mean, if I could still call you Brae." Kristen said. "I mean, it's been so long and…"

"No problem." Bradin said. "Call me anything you want. Whatever floats your boat."

Kristen giggled. "Alright."

"Look what I brought." Bradin said smiling at her as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the stuffed animal he took earlier. "Remember him?"

"Oh yeah!" Kristen's face lit up. "I gave this to you as a 'sorry' present when I pushed you too hard on the swing in the second grade!" She laughed at the thought.

"Well I'm giving it back to you as a 'sorry' present for not keeping in touch with you after all these years." He replied. "Besides, he's really ugly-looking and I don't know why we ever liked his show in the first place."

"Kinda ugly like you?" Kristen joked. "Just playing. Thanks though." She took it from him. "It'll be like a memory of you when I go back to Kansas."

Bradin's smile slowly faded away. "Oh yeah, you're going back huh. When are you leaving?"

"Saturday." She replied.

Bradin sighed. "Well, since you're leaving soon, I was wondering if you wanna, um, hang out tomorrow night, I mean, I know we've just known each other as friends and all, but, I was thinking, maybe this could be sorta like a da-″

"Hey baby." A voice cut Bradin off.

"Oh, hey Erik." Kristen's pleased expression faded away.

"Who's he?" Erik asked Kristen, giving Bradin a look that seemed to say "she's taken".

"Oh, this is my really good friend Bradin." Kristen said. "Bradin, this is, um, my boyfriend, Erik."

"Nice to meet you." Bradin held out his hand without showing any facial expression as to actually being content with meeting this backstabber.

"Um, yeah nice meeting you too Bryan." Erik said without taking his hand in his.

"It's Bradin." Bradin corrected him sternly. "Hey Kristen, I gotta go, I'll see you around." Bradin said with a hint of pain in his voice as he marched off to the opposite direction.

"Bradin wait!" Kristen called. But Bradin had already left by then, obviously hearing her, but showing no emotion of waiting. He was heartbroken.

**A/N:** Does it seem like the flow of this chapter was going by a little too fast? Please let me know! And let me know about other flaws you think I should fix. Thanks, please review!


	4. The Right Guy

**A/N: **Thanks for all the reviews! They really mean a lot to me. Please keep them coming! The more reviews, the faster I update. Thanks again!

Bradin couldn't believe the redundant luck that was set upon him. I mean, out of all the people in the world, he was the one who had lost almost everything meaningful to him. It was like he was randomly chosen out of everyone to lose everything he'd ever loved.

Bradin let out a sigh. It would be yet another typical summer day. As he would walk around, girls would be giggling like hyenas and panic as they would straighten their clothes and fix their hair in the short amount of time to try to make an impression on him, thinking and daydreaming what it would be like to have him as a husband. Don't get me wrong, he loved all the attention; but it wasn't all about that. He wanted someone for them. Someone who was more attractive on the inside than the outside.

Bradin unlocked the door and walked into the shop, once more finding unwanted work to be done. He went to the corner and started piling surfboard wax into a clean shapedpyramid figure. After a while, stepped back and cocked his head to the side, looking at his creation. Suddenly, a sound of a board crashing down onto the counter behind him startled him, knocking causing his pyramid to collapse.

"I'm returning this board, I rented it yesterday." The customer said soflty.

Bradin turned around finding none other than Kristen looking at him.

"Thanks." He replied. The sound of his voice sort of gave her a jolt about how heartbroken he felt the day before.

She sighed deeply. "Look, Bradin. I know you probably didn't like what you saw yesterday. But come on, how was I supposed to know that I was going to run into you on my trip here? Don't get me wrong, I missed you every single day since you left, and I still think you're the greatest friend I've ever had and-″

Bradin interrupted without hesitation. "How could you do this to me Kristen! You're the greatest thing that ever happened in my life!Thisprobably soundsstupid but Ithink about you every night before Igo to sleep.When I saw you yesterday, I couldn't have been a happier person. I've lost everything Kris! My parents, my house, my friends, I can't afford to lose you too!"

Kristen talked back. "Bradin, I'm so thankful and glad that you've cared about me so much, but we gotta move on you know? I mean, you've probably had ba-jillion girlfriends before I came! Why can't I have a guy for me?"

"I might have…but that doesn't change anything! I'm single now aren't I? And I just can't stand to see you hanging out with that guy!"

Luckily the two of them were alone, or else the customers would've been terrified out of their minds.

"And besides, do you even like him?" Bradin interrogated.

"Well…yes! Of course I do! What kind of dumb question is that?" She replied, blushing excessively from his remark. "And what about you?" She turned on him. "You say you _might _have had girlfriends in the past? Well I'm saying you _did_ have girlfriends in the past! Just look at yourself! Who _wouldn't_ want to date you1"

Bradin's voice calmed down. "So. You're saying I'm hot?" He asked, an annoying smirk spread across his face.

"I never said that!" Kristen screamed. "I'm just saying that, well, girls would be crazy not to have you as a boyfriend."

"SO, you're saying _you're_ crazy?" He asked.

"UGH! I can't stand you Bradin! You're probably one of the worst guys on the face of this Earth!" Kristen yelped.

"_Kristen likes me! Kristen thinks I'm incredibly hot! Kristen's crazy!_" Bradin sang jokingly.

Kristen couldn't stand it anymore. She had to do it. He's tempted her for way too long. He's crossed the line.

Kristen forced her mouth into Bradin's, cutting him off as he was singing. Thankfully and gratefully, he gave into her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she slowly brought her hands around his neck. Her cheeks could feel her cheeks becoming hot with embarrassment from the action she just committed. But she couldn't help it, she was merciless. She loved every bit of it.

20 minutes passed and they broke apart. Kristen looked deep into Bradin's olive green eyes as he looked into her beyond beautiful hazel ones. They got lost into the gaze of each other for a while until…

"Oh my God!" An unwanted thought popped into Kristen's mind. "I was supposed to meet Erik and my friends back at the hotel five minutes ago!" She panicked as she ran towards the exit. She slowed down and came to a full stop; turned around and looked at Bradin.

"And Bradin, you were right. I was pretty crazy for not being yours." She smiled. "Don't tell anyone about this, especially Erik. Please?"

Bradin smiled back. "Don't worry, the secret's safe with me." He didn't care, he was just extremely ecstatic that Kristen still cared for him and didn't forget him.

**A/N: **Did this chapter seem a little weird to you? I read it over and it sorta did for me. But it's up to you. You could tell me by going down there on the bottom left and clicking that little blue button that says "Go", right next to the words "Submit Review". DO IT.


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